Let me begin by telling you a little bit about my life long love for our four legged friends. I simply could not imagine my life without dogs playing a major role in it. It was my first dog Penny, a silver grey poodle, that led me to start my very own grooming business as a young teenager where I spent my after school hours grooming the dogs in our neighbourhood.

After marriage, my husband and I were fortunate enough to love and cherish not only our children, but three handsome German Shepherds. As the years passed by, and the time came to find a new and smaller breed to share our lives, we spent many a weekend visiting dog and pet shows in our search. This journey led us to meet a very special breeder by the name of Shelley English who operates English Farm Kennels (EFK) and introduced us to the amazing world of Miniature Australian Shepherds. Our first Mini - Aussie, Ranger Roy, came to us from Shelley's kennel. Shelley then encouraged us to get involved in showing Ranger at dog shows and with her support and guidance, the next thing we knew...Ranger won his Canadian Championship!

And here I am today, a few years later, with my very own breeding programme under the name of Bennett's Northern Stars. Just as importantly, these dogs are not just part of a breeding programme, they are our pets and a special part of our growing family. Our goal here at BNS is to raise truly happy, loving and healthy puppies that become a very special part of your family and we hope, to stay connected with our family as well.

All our dogs are health tested before any of them become part of our breeding programme. As part of our continuing efforts to ensure transparency in our programme, you can find the results of the health testing in the "Our Dogs" tab. All our puppies are de-wormed, micro-chipped, vet checked, and receive their first puppy shots before they leave for their forever homes at eight weeks of age.

Thank you,

MaryAnn Bennett

I am proud member of both Canadian Breed Clubs MASCAN & our parent club MASCUSA.

Excerpts from wiki:

"The Miniature Australian Shepherd was developed by breeding smaller Australian Shepherds for the desired size. The breed is rapidly increasing in popularity among those interested in a compact dog with a strong dog work ethic. They are especially popular in dog agility, and do well in other dog sports including herding, obedience, disc dog, flyball and many other activities."

"The preferred height of this breed ranges from 14 to 18 inches (35 to 46 cm) at the withers and the weight is typically between 17 and 30 pounds (9 to 14 kg). Coat color combinations include 16 basic possibilities."

"Mini Aussies are very easily trained, but their intelligence and drive require that they be engaged in obedience training and plenty of interesting activities. They are easily trainable because they crave approval. Once given proper socialization they will thrive in a variety of environments, provided they have an adequate outlet for both physical and mental energy."